We are moving. We found a place we love in a neighborhood we love and two blocks from a school that seems like it will be perfect for Gem. We signed the lease a few days ago, and we move in a few weeks.
Now comes the hard part.
The new home we have chosen is small. Tiny. Less than 3/4 the size of our already small apartment. That means that rather than just packing up, every single item we own will have to be considered, judged, and a large portion of them will not be accompanying us in this move. Will the Christmas tree travel with us to our new home? If so, where will it live the other 11 months of the year? We have a total of 2.5 small closets with which to work.
This will be a learning curve.
I’ve been enjoying a number of posts on the tiny house movement; perhaps we could talk the landlord into allowing us to make some modifications to make better use of the space.
In the meantime, Gem is getting excited about the move.
Her jaguar is all packed up and ready to go.
She’s been helping with our packing, as well. If something is missing, there’s a good chance she already packed it for us.
We were weary as we pulled into the parking lot of our building after a long day of apartment hunting. It’s tiring work, and a bit nerve-wracking, looking for a new place to call home, one that meets our needs, is close to a good school, and most importantly, one that we can afford. We sat there in the car, waiting for this song to finish, and we knew… We knew that wherever we end up, we’ll be okay as long as we’re together.
We didn’t realize it till later, but that night was the 10th anniversary of the day Aaron proposed. He proposed on Alki Beach on a very chilly night, and later we had to hunt down a pay phone (remember those?) so I could call my parents.
It’s a decade later, and some major twists and turns along the way, but we’re happier than ever. So much love.
It’s not that she wont sleep, she just wont sleep in a bed. She’s not a fan of bed time.
This isn’t a new thing, it started as soon as she graduated from crib to toddler bed. I went to get her up one morning and she wasn’t in her bed. I scrambled around everywhere, and then found her snuggled up under her bed.
My heart still races when I check on her and she’s not in bed, but I know to look for her before I get too worried.
I’ve learned to look for little feet sticking out from under things
Lately, she’s taken to sleeping in her toy box. The first time, it took me a while to find her, I had to listen for the sound of her breathing.
A couple nights later, I found her in her toy box again. This time curled up with a kid’s cook book.
Yes, she drags that moose around with her a lot – maybe I should look for the moose first when I’m looking for her.
My 4-year-old comes up with some of the best one-liners, and life with this little girl is fun and amazing, and lived at full-speed. Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite Gem moments from last year, many of which you might have already seen on my facebook page.
Cultural Icon
G: when I grow up I will have a magical bakery where I turn unicorns into doughnuts.
Me: I thought you loved unicorns.
G: I do. they’re delicious.
G collected an assortment of dandelions and daisies on our adventures this morning – now, she’s using them as paint brushes. Love how her mind works.
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orange dress, pink pants, red shoes, ZERO hesitation.
Mommy, I’m going to have to teach you how to dance Swan Lake.
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It’s the middle of nap time and the kid just stuck her head out her bedroom to say: “Mommy, I need some lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.”
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little chef helped me make french toast for breakfast this morning. When we sat down to eat, she got out her little cookbook and proceeded with critiquing my method. “This recipe says one egg, you used too many. And this says one four cup milk and you didn’t even measure. and you didn’t measure the salt or the cinnamon, either. This isn’t really french toast!”
Me: “oh,yeah? then what is it?”
G flips to the next page in her cook book: “mexican omelet”
G: the early bird gets the pig
me: ?
G: some kinds of birds eat pigs
me: what kind of bird does that?
G: angry birds
She Blinded me with Science
Pro Tip: don’t answer when your 3-year-old asks what gravity is. Why? Because 5 minutes later, everything on the table will be on the floor, and she’ll say, “I didn’t do it; gravity did.”
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me: “would you like to go visit the tulip fields next week?”
G: “Are they on Earth?”
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G was over the moon when I gave her a calculator to play with this morning “it has all my favorite numbers!
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G: “Is Santa nocturnal?
Me: ?
G: “If he stays up all night to deliver presents, does that make him nocturnal?
When she met Santa, she asked him for a jump rope, a my little pony set, and a skeleton she could put together.
The Wisdom of Youth
G: “Daddy! That’s not a nice word. Don’t say that word.”
A: “OK, I’ll try.”
G: “Don’t try, just do it!”
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Mommy, your silly phone made the wakeup song when it was still dark outside, so I turned it off
what did she spend her wish on? “I wish I could be the Loch Ness Monster.”
Me: “What do you think we should get Daddy for Christmas?”
G: “I think Daddy wants a new potty that’s colored gold, and has lots of sparkles”
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Me: “i’ll think about it.”
G: “mom, dont just keep thinking. make a choice and then do it.”
Smooth Operator
Me: “I love you more than chocolate”
G: “I love you more than crab-shaped cookies”
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G explaining to Daddy why “I just want to be near Mumum” while I desperately try to get caught up on this avalanche of homework: “I love her face, and I love her smile, and I love her hair, and I love her watch, and I even love her eyes, and she takes care of me… I love that she takes care of me”
I don’t think I’m getting caught up on homework tonight… #sucker
“You got a treat for Daddy? And me? But, did you get a treat for Mommy?”
“Mommy needs to stop eating treats, kiddo.”
“But, treats are happy things. You can’t stop eating treats! Treats are WONDERFUL!”
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on our way to a party and just checked the books the kid brought with her. yeah… it was a collection of my journals. at least they’re the 40-year-old “never ending to do list” type journal instead of the angsty 16-year-old “i’m the center of the universe and it’s imploding” journals. but still. . . starting to feel a little angsty again
Lets get this party started
G: “who wants to panic with me?” runs around room waving arms in the air, yelling. meanwhile, I haven’t had my coffee yet.
[about the picture above]
G: “we cant go yet because the ostrich is going to marry the horse”
Me: “what about the monkey?”
G: “he will find out soon enough”
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G, on the way to the party last night: “I’m bringing the party with me, I carry it in my heart.”
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excerpt from the prattle emanating from the back seat of the car: “…then I will put this sticker on my shin, and everywhere we go people will say ‘look at that girl, she is so interesting'”
Feminista
This morning our neighbor called her a “doll,” and then my 4yo daughter spent the next 10 minutes lecturing me about how dolls cant think or do anything all by themselves, but she’s a real girl and she decides what she does. I love these little rants of hers.
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“Don’t worry, Mommy. I have a plan.”
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Me: time to get a move on, Babe
G: Mommy! Little girls are NOT babes
Me: Oh. What are they?
G: They’re womens.
Later
G: But little boys are babes
I should get some kind of parenting award… or not
We’ve been learning left and right, so at a stop light I had her raise her left arm, then her right, her left leg, then her right. Then the light changed, and we drove off.
A little while later I hear from the back seat
“Mommy?”
“yes, Sweety”
“Can I put them down now?”
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Me: “It’s not my job to decide whether or not you’re happy. That’s your job.”
G: “No, my job is to push buttons.”
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I was frustrated with some stupid mechanical mess, and telling my husband about it, when the little angel interrupted — “Mommy, when you’re frustrated, you need to take a deep breath and count to three…”
If she wasn’t so cute, that would have been really annoying. Way to ruin a perfectly good bad mood, kiddo.
A way with words
G: “That was so embarrassing.”
Me: “Wow. Embarrassing is a really big word. What do you think it means?”
G: “It means when you don’t want to be who you are.”
ouch. perceptive, but ouch.
Me: “I think you’re pretty awesome. Why were you embarrassed?”
G: “Not Meeeeee, Mom! (rolls eyes) My burrito was embarrassed, that’s why it fell in my lap. it didn’t want to be lunch.”
whew.
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After she prattled off her list of demands, I said “I see.”
G: “Mommy, that means you said yes in Spanish”
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Me: I’m running low on patience.
G: Mommy, please get more patience.
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Best moment ever: G greeting Aaron at the door, jumping up and down, squealing and saying “I didn’t know what the words were, but I sounded them out and now I know all the words!!!!”
Looking Ahead
2014 started with G yelling from her bedroom: “Butterfly to the rescue!”
2013 was a rough year – full of health issues, surgeries, and hospital stays, but there was so much more to my year than just health related news.
I was selected as a Voice of the Year by BlogHer for my post, Just Breathe. By the way, my little niece mentioned in the post is thriving now, and just celebrated her first birthday.
My little girl reminded me to dance, and live in the moment, on the anniversary of my cancer diagnosis.
I am so ready to get on with 2014. Here’s to a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year for us all.
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